ST. PAUL, Minn. — Like many in the stands at Grand Casino Arena on Tuesday night, Marcus Johansson wondered if one of the stranger game-winning overtime goals would stand.

“I had no idea, honestly,” Johansson said.

With just over a minute left in overtime, Nashville Predators goalie Justus Annunen knocked the goal off its moorings as the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov sent a cross-slot pass to Johansson, who was wide open for what looked like an easy tap-in. With the net off, Johansson put in his own rebound. Referee Trevor Hanson immediately signaled it was a goal, but there was an awkward moment when the Wild subtly celebrated and the Predators argued the call, which withstood a review.

The NHL situation room said that “video review supported the referees’ call on the ice that the actions of Nashville’s Justus Annunen caused the net to be displaced prior to the puck crossing the goal line. Therefore, the referees awarded Minnesota’s Marcus Johansson with a goal.”

“I don’t really know what happened,” said Johansson, who played in his 997th career game. “I didn’t know if we were supposed to celebrate or not. Didn’t know what the call was going to be. When it’s pushed off like that, it’s the right thing to do. Thankfully, I put it in even though the net wasn’t there.”

“Just by the physics of pushing, I don’t think that was what he’s trying to do,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said on whether he thought Annunen intentionally knocked the net off. “I thought they’d miss the net. If the net didn’t dislodge, it would have ended up behind the net. Unfortunately, they didn’t see it the same way. And we move on.”

It was the second time the Preds goalie did it in the game, and he also nearly did it earlier in overtime on another Minnesota Wild rush.

The awarded goal delivered the Wild a 3-2 overtime win after Nashville’s Steven Stamkos tied the score with three-tenths of a second left in regulation.

“Obviously weird, weird play,” Stamkos said. “I can see the confusion, but the confusing part for us was why it was so emphatically felt. Like, I get it. Listen, the net came off. But if the puck goes in right away, no problem if the net’s off.

“But he missed the net, and the puck actually bounced back to him because the net was sideways, and then he hit the back of the net and it popped back. So my interpretation of the rule is that if the net wasn’t off, that puck wouldn’t have (come) back to him to have an open net. It would have went behind the net, and then the play would have been blown dead because the net was off. I understand the net came off. I don’t think there was any intent from our goaltender to knock it off. It came off twice today, but our vantage point is obviously going to differ from theirs.”

Added Predators forward Michael McCarron: “I don’t know how the ref can stand there with a straight face and call it a goal, and then they call Toronto, and they still decide to call it a goal. I mean, I’m dumbfounded. I feel like we got screwed tonight.”

The decision, the league said, was made in accordance with Rule 63.7, which states: “In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goal posts, the referee may award a goal. In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the attacking player must have an imminent scoring opportunity prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts.”

ESPN rules analyst and former NHL referee Dave Jackson posted on X that it was the “correct call.”

“From my angle, when it happened originally, I didn’t know he had knocked it off with his arm prior to the goal. I wasn’t sure,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “But then when I went back and watched it, I understood the call for sure and the rule.”

Last Friday, the NHL also awarded the Anaheim Ducks’ Chris Kreider a goal in the third period when the Detroit Red Wings’ John Gibson knocked the net off the moorings.

The Wild appeared headed for a win in regulation until Stamkos ripped a one-timer past Filip Gustavsson with 0.3 seconds left to force overtime.

“It was a helluva shot,” Brunette said. “There’s only a few players in the history of the NHL that can make that shot. And he made it.”

Stamkos’ tying goal could have been a gut punch for a Minnesota team that badly needed a win. The Wild had taken a one-goal lead on a Kaprizov power-play goal in the first period. It was his 32nd career game-opening goal, tying Mikko Koivu for the second most in Wild history (Zach Parise had 40). Former Gopher Matthew Wood tied it in the second period off a turnover by Tyler Pitlick. The fact that the Wild left the second period with a one-goal lead (thanks to a Zeev Buium power-play goal) was fortunate considering how sloppy they were all over the ice.

Gustavsson was really good for Minnesota, stopping 32 of 34 shots.

“I feel like that game was, like, a little like a fruit salad,” Gustavsson said. “We’re good offensively, we’re bad defensively, and then we’re good defensively, and it was just, we couldn’t be really solid for the whole 60 minutes, but that’s how the game goes sometimes, and two points is ours.”

Minnesota finished a six-game homestand with a 2-2-2 record, though it gave a point to division rival Nashville.

Second power-play unit contributing

The past couple of years, the Wild haven’t gotten a lot of production from the second power-play unit. One big reason is that the first unit is so successful and spends so much time in the offensive zone that the second unit barely gets to see the ice.

Two years ago, it took until around midseason for Freddy Gaudreau to score the second unit’s first goal of the season. Last year, it took until mid-November for Marco Rossi to score the unit’s first.

This season, the second power-play unit has six of the Wild’s league-leading 17 power-play goals through 14 games.

In the second period Tuesday, after Wood tied the score 1-1 during a one-sided middle frame for the Preds, the second unit came out to the ice, Ryan Hartman won a puck race and, seconds later, Buium redirected Brock Faber’s point shot from the slot for his third goal of the season and a 2-1 Wild lead.

Zuccarello, Sturm updates

Mats Zuccarello, who underwent surgery at the end of training camp, might come on the upcoming two-game trip. If he plays, it would likely be on Long Island in the second of a back-to-back Friday, Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin told The Athletic.

Nico Sturm, who underwent back surgery after getting hurt in the first practice of training camp, is eyeing a return at or around Dec. 1. He’s progressing well and skated lightly for the first time Monday by himself. He’s cleared for off-ice workouts as well.